Shirt form



Feb. 14, 1939. s, A, HARPMAN 2,147,576

' SHIRT FORM Filed Feb. 23, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l A/IYI/E/YTOIEI 5IGMUNP A. HARPMAN Feb. 14, 1939. 5, A, HARPMAN 2,147,576

SHIRT FORM Filed Feb. 23, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 //VVE/Y7'0E/ SIGMUNP A. HARPMAN muwamw 'ATTO/E/YEY Patented Feb. 14, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHIRT FORM Application February 23, 1935, Serial No. 7,719

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in shirt forms, and more particularly to such forms as are used by laundries for retaining shirts in their freshly pressed condition during the normal handling and delivery to the customer.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a form of the kind described, which will retain the body of the shirt, as well as the collar of the same, in correctly fresh-pressed condition until used by the wearer, and wherein the form used will be extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture, readily and easily folded and used in preparing the shirts for packaging, neat and attractive in appearance, and otherwise satisfactory and efficient for use wherever deemed applicable.

Another of the objects of my invention is to provide a shirt form for collar-attached shirts, in which both the bosom portion and the collar portion of the shirt will be protected and supported after laundering, all out of a single piece of sheet material, and which will so interlock with the shirt that the latter will be retained in its predetermined position on the form.

A further object of my invention is to provide a shirt form of the kind described, in which the collar protecting portion of the form will act in cooperation with the shirt collar to maintain the said portion of the form down in place and not permit it to loosely flap and permit consequent damage to the ironed appearance of the shirt during handling.

An added object of the invention is to provide a collar stiffener in such a shirt form, so proportioned and constructed that it will permit the back and side portions of the collar toassume their natural and desired curved shape, instead of sharply bending the collar to leave a crease therein after removal of the form.

A still further object of my invention is to so construct the form that a portion of the same will closely overlie the topedge of the collar, bridging the opening of the latter, and providing an upstanding reinforcement as part of and arranged beneath said bridging portion, to firmly and securely reinforce the cover portion against all but very heavy crushing pressure downwardly on the packaged shirt, and hence obviating the necessity of boxing shirts to minimize mussing and rumpling. The construction herein provided will permit of many shirts so packaged being piled vertically on one another without any crushing of the collars.

Many other objects and advantages of the construction herein shown and described, will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, from the disclosures herein given.

To this end my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described, as will be more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like or corresponding parts throughout the views,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank form, in flat condition and ready for folding;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the same being folded over a pressed shirt;

Figure 3 is another perspective view, showing the progression in packaging;

Figure 4 is a similar view, with parts broken away, showing another advance in the folding operations;

Figure 5 is a perspective view, showing the completed packaging of the shirt with the form; and

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention, A represents a shirt, of the well-known collar-attached type, as completely and freshly ironed, and ready for packaging for delivery to the customer, either from a shelf in the case of customer pick-up, or by some transportation means such as a truck. I indicates the bosom of the shirt, or both front and back portions of the shirt body, while 2 indicates the collar of the shirt, the latter being comprised of the inner fold 3 and the outer fold 4, and the collar terminating in the open ends 5. It will be noted in Fig. 2 that the collar is preferably circular in shape so as to more comfortably fit the wearer, and that any deviation to a marked degree from this shape will render it uncomfortable to approximately a corresponding degree, and for that reason care is taken to retain this circular form as nearly as possible, as will be more clearly set forth hereinafter.

The shirt form is preferably stamped or otherwise formed out of a sheet of suitable material having the desired amount of stiffness and flexibility for the purpose, as for example, cardboard of about the same thickness as is now used for shirt boards or shirt fronts. There is a main body or bosom portion ii, of elongated and generally rectangular shape, to the size substantially illustrated in the drawings, as compared with the shirt, and projecting or extending longitudinally from one end of the same is the spacer portion 1, adapted to be folded upright or at right angles to the portion 6, along the line of fold 8, and to this spacer portion 1 there is extended the collar cover portion 9, adapted to be folded at substantially right angles to the spacer portion '1 to substantially parallel to the bosom supporting portion 6. The distance between the pair of parallel lines 8 and I0 is approximately equal to the average height of the shirt collar, or it may be a trifle greater than that amount.

The side edges of the cover portion 9 are preferably cut oblique to the line of fold [0, as indicated at H, in order to have the width of the fold portion [0 of the cover portion less than that of the width of the main body portion 6, for a reason to be soon set forth, these oblique lines preferably continuing past the sides of the central or cover portion 9, as shown.

At either side of the cover portion 9 is a side wing l2, slit or otherwise separated from the material of the cover portion, for the major portion of juxtaposition, as indicated at I3, and connected to said cover portion by only the relatively short amount indicated at the longitudinal lines of fold l4, these wings extending longitudinally of and beyond the farther end of the cover portion 9.

Extending centrally beyond the portion 9 is the portion I 5, the same being preferably separated therefrom at either end, as at the lines l6, obliquely formed so as to make the oppositely directed free ends of the part l5 wider than the central portion where it is secured to the cover portion, the short line of securement being indicated at IT, so that this element l5 may be bent relative to the cover portion along said line I! substantially parallel to the lines 8 and ID, and resulting in the upstanding points or sharpened tips I 8.

When packaging the pressed shirt, the latter is placed on the form so that the body or bosom portion of the shirt is supported on the bosom portion 6 of the former, with the back of the neckband or the collar of the shirt adjacent the line of fold 8. In order to insure that the shirt will be retained in this relationship, I have provided a tab l9 preferably cut out from the material of the form, the tab being insertable into and between the inner and outer folds of the collar at the back of the same, as indicated more clearly in Fig. 2. Obviously, after the shirt is packaged, this interlocking of the tab with the collar will prevent the shirt from slipping down on the bosom board during the consequent handling of the shirt.

The portion 1 is bent at right angles to the flat bosom portion, and the cover portion is then bent substantially parallel to the bosom portion so as to overlie and be superimposed on the top edge of the shirt collar and bridge the collar opening, said cover portion projecting slightly beyond the fastened collar if desired, to more effectively serve its purpose of preventing crushing of the collar (see Figs. 4 and 5). The side Wings 12 are bent along the lines of fold I4 and extended in opposite directions Within the collar, engaging the inside surface of the inner fold of the collar. It is well to note at this point that on account of the cut of the wings l2 adjacent their connection with the cover portion, the top edge of the collar is not pressed tightly against the straight wall of the spacer 1, but is free tov assume a curvature thereat. In this manner, there will be no sharp creasing or folding of the collar thereat, and the latter will not be distorted out of shape when ready to be worn, and removed from the form.

The insertion of the wings l2 turns them on edge so that they engage against the supported shirt back, and further they pass beneath and in engagement with the under surface of the cover portion 9, to reinforce and support the latter against any downward or crushing pressure, and hence many so packaged shirts may be piled on top of one another as required.

In order to maintain the cover in place and to prevent it from loosely flapping and being torn off or otherwise damaged, I have provided the collar interlocking means l5 hereinbefore described. The opposite ends of this member are now inserted into the open ends of the collar, between and in engagement with the inner and outer folds of the collar, and with the tips I8 uppermost into engagement with the collar fold line. collar, and the same can not accidentally lift up relatively of the latter, and the shirt body or bosom and collar will be held pressed toward one another. This, in addition to the interlocking at the back of the collar by the tab l9, will keep the shirt and collar in rigid relationship even in spite of considerable shaking up of the bundle in the course of delivery, and when the shirt is ready for use it will be substantially as well ironed as when it left the laundry. This will not only obviate the necessity of placing shirts in boxes, with its attendant high costs, but minimize the amount of re-ironing that is required in laundries on account of shirts rejected at the point of delivery on the basis of so badly mussed that they can not be worn.

If desired, an opening 20 may be provided' through the collar cover portion, for inspection or" the laundry marks 2|, without opening the package.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form, arrangement, construction and combination, herein shown and described, except as limited by the state of the art to which this invention appertains, and the disclosures herein claimed.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A blank adapted to be folded into a protector for collar-attached shirts, comprising a longitudinally extending body-engaging member;

a collar-height spacer extending from one end of said body-engaging member and adapted to be folded at an angle thereto; a collar-covering member extending from said spacer member and adapted to be folded onto said shirt over said collar; wings extending lengthwise of the bodyengaging member and adapted to be inserted into the collar to extend toward one another lengthwise of the collar, said wings being attached to the sides of said collar-covering member along only a portion of the length of the latter; and an end member joined to said collar-covering member and having opposed ends extending free and adapted to be foldably inserted between the folds of the collar.

2. In a blank adapted to be folded into a stiffener for a collar-attached shirt, a main body element adapted to be superimposed on the shirt body; a collar-height spacer projecting from one end of said element and adapted to be folded at an angle thereto; a cover member extending up- Now, the cover is interlocked with the d wardly from said spacer and adapted to be folded to substantially parallel relation to said body element to overlie the shirt collar, and being sufficiently larger than said collar to project therebeyond and overhang the same at either side of the latter between the rear of the collar and its ends; side Wings at either side of said cover joined thereto along only a portion of the length of the latter and adapted to be movably folded into the collar and beneath said cover to slidably abut the under surface of the latter member and reinforce it against pressure downwardly of said collar; and a tab secured to the upper edge of said cover and adapted to be folded relatively of the latter and inserted into the open ends of the collar to interlock therewith against lifting of said cover relatively of the collar.

SIGMUND A. HARPMAN. 

